Conference calls are well known in today's expanding marketplace as a mechanism for business employees and clients to communicate with each other, regardless of their location. In some cases, due to the globalization of businesses and their customers, such conference calls take place among participants located in several different countries.
Although conventional conference call systems enable these participants to communicate with each other in a single call, efficient communication can become an issue when dealing with participants who are not fluent in or do not speak the language in which the call is conducted. To address this problem, translation services have been developed that enable a participant to receive media data of the conference call in their primary language. To utilize such services, the participant typically either subscribes to the service or downloads the necessary software. As the conference call proceeds, the media stream is sent to the endpoint associated with the participant, where it is translated and transmitted to the participant's communication device. Similarly, when the participant responds to the incoming media stream in his desired language, it is translated into the primary language of the call and transmitted to the endpoints associated with the other participants.
Because each participant in a conference call is generally associated with a single endpoint, a translation service is typically required at each endpoint to independently translate the media streams between the primary language and the desired languages of those participants who do not understand the primary language, and direct the media streams between the various endpoints. Such a system is inefficient, time consuming and impractical, especially when the conference call includes dozens or more participants, each located in different areas of the world.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system that efficiently enables translation and direction of media streams during a conference call.